Promise
by amberkittykat
Summary: It's 2941 and Thorin Oakenshield and his company are setting off to Erebor and they've been joined by Eliza Ironhand, a seemingly ordinary girl. Much to Eliza's dismay, her younger brother Sterling decides to join the adventure but he knows very little of the dangers of the world. Can he learn to survive, and what secrets is Eliza hiding from the rest of the company?
1. Chapter 1

The year was 2941. It was mid springtime and the Blue Mountains were alive with colour.  
Emerald trees towered high above seas of sunny yellows, vibrant pinks and deep blues. There were wispy clouds high in the sky, floating about like ships in an endless sea of pale blue. It was a warm day, but not so hot that it was uncomfortable. A light breeze blew around the town, giving the inhabitants a cool release from the heat. In fact, one could say it was a perfect day.

The town was mainly full of men, perhaps the least special species that inhabited Middle-Earth, yet here in towns like this they thrived. They went about their daily business without complaint, building houses and other structures and trading items in small markets. At first glance the Blue Mountains would seem like any other town of men. But at a closer look you would notice the smaller people that also wandered around the town for the town was also inhabited by a group of dwarves.

These particular dwarves were known as Durin's dwarves and they had once been incredibly powerful. They owned the great kingdom of Erebor where the great king Thrór had ruled over his people, digging up thousands of precious gems. Even the elves of Mirkwood had respect for the dwarves that lived in this magnificent city. But that had long since changed.

A great dragon from the north had flew down like a hurricane and attacked the town, forcing all the dwarves living there to flee for their lives. The dragon was known as Smaug and he had guarded his treasure since that time for dragons are incredibly greedy creatures.

The Durin's dwarves, now homeless, had travelled for weeks until they encountered Azog the defiler and his army of orcs. A vicious battle had ensued, resulting in the death of Thrain and leaving his son, Thorin Oakenshield, as the leader of the people. Thorin bravely fought against Azog using nothing but an oak branch as a shield and eventually the pale Orc was defeated. Thorin had then led his people to the Blue Mountains where they had taken shelter amongst the men, desperate and poor.

It was a story that Eliza Ironhand pestered her grandfather to tell her every time she visited even though she was now 75 years old and on the verge of being considered an adult. Eliza's grandfather was Nár Ironhand, a particularly brave dwarf who had fought alongside Thorin Oakenshield in the battle with the pale Orc. He had been there by the King's side as Thrain's severed head had been raised high into the air by Azog the defiler. He had seen the look in Thorin's eyes as he'd charged towards the Orc. He'd experienced all of that and now was considered to be a friend of the King.

Nár had changed a lot since then though. During the battle he'd been badly injured, losing both his left hand and left leg. He now had a hand made of metal and a thick oak branch as a leg. For the rest of his life he was forced to limp around with a walking stick, something he was highly ashamed of.

But he was also different from the other dwarves in another way. After the battle he went away on his own for a while and found himself in a place called The Shire. This was home to small creatures with curly hair known as hobbits. He'd found a small inn to stay in for a while and that was where he met Isabella Took. She was a relatively young hobbit with an unnatural taste for adventure. She had fallen in love with the crippled dwarf, much to her family's distaste, and ran off to the Blue Mountains with him.

Isabella Took was aware that many people in this town disliked her, even thought she had no place among them but when Nár had spoken to Thorin, he insisted that she must stay. Since then no-one said anything to the hobbit for fear of angering the king but she still could not ignore the judgemental looks she got every day in the streets.

Eliza was incredibly proud of both of her grandparents so tried to visit as often as she could although this wasn't always possible because the journey from her home to the Blue Mountains was a long and potentially dangerous one that her parents would still not let her take alone. Or rather, her mother would not let her take alone. Skye Ironhand was a rather paranoid woman who preferred to have her children by her side at all times.

Now if you thought that her husband, Telchar, had strange parentage it was nothing compared to her own. Her father was the wizard Radagast the brown, perhaps the strangest of the 5 wizards for he preferred the company of animals to humans, and her mother was Lady Galadriel the elf. Lady Galadriel did not tend to make any contact eight the family as she did not approve of her falling in love with a man who was part dwarf. Not that Skye was bothered about that, she had always preferred her father and after the couple had split, Skye willingly took her fathers side and chose to live with him in his cottage in the woods.

Perhaps now you are beginning to see the unusualness of young Eliza Ironhand. With roots to four of the major species in Middle-Earth she was very much one of a kind. Well not quite for she had a younger brother by the name of Sterling. However, unlike Eliza who showed characteristics from all her grandparents, Sterling mainly took after his father, in particular the hobbit side. He rather disliked the idea of adventures and always complained when his older sister dragged him out on adventures into the forests around Rivendell.

The family had chosen to live in Rivendell as, although they strongly disliked the elves of Mirkwood, they had no problem with the elves of Rivendell who were only too happy to accept them into the city. They did not wish to live in the Blue Mountains as they hated the looks of resentment they recieved from the men there as well as some of the dwarves. Skye and Telchar had also insisted on giving their children the best education possible and Rivendell seemed to offer this. Lord Elrond himself had even agreed to mentor Eliza in all areas of her education, including archery, fighting and magic for Eliza had inherited some of her grandfather's magic abilities.

However, Eliza had also inherited her dwarf grandfathers stubborn nature which meant that whatever the elves told her to do, she did the complete opposite of. This had led to her becoming very good friends with Elrond's troublesome twin sons, Elladan and Elrohir, but also surprisingly their sensible sister Arwen. Eliza and Arwen were practically inseparable and whenever Eliza got in trouble you could guarantee that Arwen would be there to get her out of it.

Despite her love of the elves of Rivendell, Eliza still preferred the Blue Mountains despite all the strange looks she got there. She didn't have any friends in the town as their trips were usually short and far apart so she never had chance to make friends. Instead she dragged her brother into the caves in the side of the mountain and into the fields where they'd often be chased off by angry farmers. But that was what Eliza enjoyed. Rivendell was fun but it was the same thing over and over again. Sterling might be happy with the same routine day in day out but all Eliza wanted was a little adventure.

Who knew that she'd end up getting exactly what she wanted?

The day began like any other, Eliza woke up and rolled out of bed, getting dressed quickly so that she could go out exploring the town or rather the caves in the mountains. She used to visit much higher up the mountain but after a nasty incident with some Wargs when she was younger she never went anywhere higher than the fourth cave. If she had a second encounter with the vicious creatures she didn't think she'd be so lucky again.

When she reached the bottom of the stairs she found her grandfather sat at the table smoking a long pipe, blowing wide smoke rings into the air. The old dwarf looked up at his granddaughter and gave her a crinkled smile.

"Mornin', Princess." He greeted her as usual

"How many times Grandpa, you can't call me princess unless I marry a prince!" Eliza teased him as she searched for her cloak.

"Which I'm sure ye will, princess. Any prince would be stupid to not want to marry you" He said with a wink.

"I'm only marrying a prince if I fall in love with him, Grandpa. It shouldn't matter who he is as long as I love him. Take you and Grandma for example. Besides, perhaps I won't marry at all." She insisted, eventually finding the dark cloak on top of a pile of old maps of Erebor.

"Don't ye let yer mother hear that! Ye know 'ow desperate she is fer some grandkids." Nár said, laughing

"Don't remind me." She muttered, imagining how her mother would react to her saying that she was never going to marry. She found her boots by the door and began to tug them on.

"Where d'ya think yer going?" The old dwarf asked as she went to open the door. She looked back at him questioningly, he never usually had a problem with her leaving the house to go exploring. In fact, most of the time he'd encourage her inquisitive behaviour.

"Just going out." She answered him. Nár shook his head and coughed, sending spirals of smoke out of his mouth.

"Sorry, princess. Thought ye knew but I s'pose not. Every dwarf or person with dwarf blood has to go to the centre o' town in about 10 minutes." He told her, looking up at the clock to check the time.

"Who says so?" Eliza snapped, her stubborn dwarf nature kicking in.

"King Thorin says so. Ye'd be a fool to not listen to 'im." He replied without looking at her, instead choosing to focus on the perfect rings of smoke that floated up to the ceiling.

"Fine, I suppose I ought to go get Sterling up." Eliza muttered, kicking off her boots and climbing up the stairs.

"Aye." Her grandfather said to her retreating figure.

Nár and Isabella's house was relatively large for people as small as them and there were plenty of rooms as although dwarves were not particularly fond of visitors, hobbits loved having people to stay. Eliza had her own room, as did her brother and her parents stayed in the guest room. Her grandparents slept downstairs because Nár now struggled to climb even the smallest number of stairs.

Eliza walked straight into her younger brothers room, not bothering to knock. She sat down on the edge of his bed and gently shook him.

"Come on Ster, we've got to get up."

"No, Elle. I don' want no adventures today." He groaned, covering his head with the pillow.

"We're not going on an adventure. We've been told that we've got to go into town."

"Since when d'you do what you're told?" Sterling asked, his bright blue eyes peeking out from under the pillow.

"Since it was the Kings order." That comment was enough for him to remove his head from under the sheltered the pillow. Eliza considered that an extraordinary feat in itself.

"S'pose I should get up then." He grimaced as he began to clamber out of bed. Eliza grinned in success and jogged downstairs to where her grandfather was putting away his pipe and trying to climb up from the table. He grimaced in pain as he leaned on the table for support. The stick he held in his hand suddenly slipped from his grasp and he went tumbling towards the ground. Within seconds Eliza was by his side, holding him up and returning his walking stick to him.

"You need to start asking for help, Grandpa." Eliza scolded him as he regained his footing.

"I'm not completely useless." He grumbled at her, his dwarvish pride kicking in as he limped away from his granddaughter.

"I'm not saying that. I'm just saying that by trying to do that by yourself you'll just cause yourself more damage." Eliza told him but the old dwarf just muttered something unintelligible under his breath. At that moment, Sterling stumbled into the room, tripping over the last few stairs and having to steady himself by clinging onto the wall.

"Clumsy." Eliza said to him with a grin which Sterling returned.

"Come on ye two. Yer fathers waiting fer us in town. If we don' leave now we'll be late and you'll be explaining to the great Thorin Oakenshield why ye don't have the decency to be on time!" Nár snapped at his grandchildren and they quickly fell to his side like obidient puppies. Together the trio made their way into the town centre where a small stage had been set up. Stood atop the structure was none other than Thorin Oakenshield.

Even though Eliza and Sterling had visited the Blue Mountains before, they had never actually seen the King. All they'd ever heard about him had come from their grandfather's stories of Erebor and of great battles. Eliza had looked up to this man who had been the main character in her bedtime stories and seeing him in the flesh seemed to confirm what the stories had told her. She knew the man had to be almost as old as her grandfather but instead of being hunched over or having to use a walking stick to move he held himself up, back straight and had the presence of being someone incredibly important which, of course, he was.

"He's exactly what I imagined." Sterling whispered beside her. Although her younger brother did not share her love for adventure, he had still enjoyed hearing tales of the great Thorin Oakenshield and he too looked up to him.

Thorin looked straight at the newcomers and inclined his head slightly at the elderly dwarf. Nár immediately straightened up and nodded back at the King with a small smile playing on his lips. After this short exchange the group of three made their way over to where their father was waiting for them.

"Now that we are all here I have an announcement to make. An announcement that affects every person with dwarven blood." Thorin spoke and his words had such power that all the surrounding dwarves, and even a few inquisitive men, fell silent and listened.

"Many years ago, Durin's dwarves were powerful, respected people who lived in the great Kingdom of Erebor. We had plenty of treasure and we positively thrived. But, as you all know, that changed when the terrible dragon, Smaug, attacked. He stole all that was rightfully ours and to this very day he guards it. He sleeps in our halls that we worked so hard to build. Well no more. We are going to claim back what is rightfully ours!"

Around the stage people were suddenly realising exactly what their King meant. The effect was instant and people began shaking their heads, turning to mutter to their neighbours.

"Trying to reclaim Erebor is suicide, Thorin." A dwarf with a long black beard shouted up at Thorin "Even you are not capable of reclaiming Erebor."

"Perhaps not, but I can try!" Thorin bellowed back, reducing the dwarves to silent beings yet again. A dwarf with a pure white beard and bushy white hair stepped forwards and climbed onto the stage. All eyes were on him.

"I will follow you." The old dwarf said and Thorin smiled and rested his hand on the dwarves shoulder.

"As will I!" Cried a voice from near the front and a relatively young dwarf with a blonde beard in braids walked onto the stage.

"And so will I!" Said another voice and a beardless dwarf literally ran onto the stage to stand beside the one with braids. Thorin smiled again and said something quietly to the pair which made them positively beam. Slowly, more and more dwarves mounted the stage, mainly in groups of two or three. 12 dwarves now stood on the stage beside Thorin Oakenshield and each held a contract in their hands.

Eliza turned to talk to her grandfather but realised that he was not there. She looked around in a panic and finally spotted him a few paces away from the stairs. A few dwarves around him had stopped talking and looked at him in shock. The elderly dwarf paid no notice to them and instead focused on reaching the steps.

"Grandpa, no!" Eliza shouted as she fought her way through the crowd to reach him. Before he took his first step onto the small staircase, she had flung herself in front of him, blocking his path.

"Get out o' the way, Eliza." He muttered to her.

"No. I'm not letting you do this." She told him. They'd attracted a lot of attention now, even Thorin Oakenshieldhad turned to face them, an inquisitive look on his face.

"Eliza, please." Nár said weakly.

"I can't let you go, Grandpa. You'll get killed." Eliza told the old man.

"Princess, you know what this means to me." He said softly, looking up at her. It was true, Eliza knew exactly what this meant to him. Erebor had been his home, the purpose of this quest was not to get treasure or to become rich. It was simply to regain pride and to get their home back. Her grandfather had always complained about the dirty looks that the men in the town gave him and he always expressed his wishes for a place that he could truly call home again. But despite all this, she couldn't let him get killed.

"I know you want your home back, but you know that if you go on this adventure you won't come back." Eliza told him. After a moments pause he spoke again.

"I guess you're right." He said. The pain in his voice broke Eliza's heart and as he turned away from the stage Eliza made a decision. One that would change her life forever.

"Grandpa can't go." She repeated to herself as she walked away, following her grandfathers steps "He can't go... But you can." Eliza whipped around and quickly walked onto the stage, taking the steps two at a time. She stood in front of Thorin Oakenshield and looked up at him, the man who'd been her hero for years, and she spoke.

"I wish to join your adventure."

The impact that these few words had on the dwarves was incredible. Those in the crowd began to talk amongst themselves, some looked shocked, others found the whole matter completely hilarious but the one face that stood out was her grandfathers look of absolute pride.

"And who are you?" Thorin asked. Eliza tried to tell how he had reacted to her announcement but she couldn't detect any emotion in his tone.

"My name is Eliza Ironhand. Granddaughter of the dwarf, Nár Ironhand, the hobbit, Isabella Took, the wizard, Radagast the brown and Lady Galadriel," Eliza paused and took in a deep breath, knowing that her next words would cause an uproar "the elf."

As expected several of the dwarves signing contracts looked at each other in a mixture of disgust and shock. The crowd began to mutter amongst themselves, shooting Eliza dirty looks. Thorin raised a hand for silence.

"An elf?" He said simply after the crowd had quietened down.

"Yes but we don't have any contact with them. She doesn't approve of my mother marrying a part-dwarf." Eliza explained, surprised at how steady her voice sounded.

"I don't see why we should take an elf along on this journey, and a female at that." Thorin said to her, arms crossed. Eliza clenched her fists and could almost hear her grandfathers voice in her head telling her that it would most definitely not be a good idea to snap at the King. Naturally, she chose to ignore the voice.

"And what has me being a woman got to do with anything?" Eliza snapped and she could've sworn she heard her grandfather groan. Thorin raised an eyebrow but said nothing. Eliza saw the beardless dwarf turned to talk to the one with blonde braids.

"Maybe it's because being a woman means you're nothing more than a pretty face." He whispered but not quietly enough and Eliza heard every word he said. In an instant she had unsheathed her dagger and had chucked it at the young dwarf. It hit the back leg of the chair and cracked it slightly. The beardless dwarf laughed.

"You missed!" He shouted through his laughter.

"No I didn't." She replied with a smirk. The dwarf stopped smiling and his chair broke, sending him toppling off of the stage with a small scream. The rest of the dwarves were absolutely howling with laughter and when the dwarf re-emerged from behind the stage with leaves stuck in his hair they just laughed harder. But no-one laughed more than the blonde dwarf whom he'd been talking to. Eventually even the victim of her attack let out a small smile.

"Alright then, I suppose there's room for another person on our adventure." Thorin said to Eliza and she positively beamed back at him. She'd proved herself to be worthy of being in the company of Thorin Oakenshield and that was perhaps her proudest moment. The beardless dwarf stepped forwards and held out a hand for her to shake.

"Nice trick back there, I suppose I did deserve it." He said with a grin.

"Yes you certainly did." Eliza smiled back and the dwarf let out a laugh.

"I'm Kili. It's a pleasure to meet you." The blonde haired dwarf stepped next to Kili and bowed to her.

"And I'm Fili, this idiots older brother." He said with a grin and he passed her the contract that she had to sign to officially be a member of Thorin's company. She quickly signed it, not taking much time to read the terms and conditions. She passed it back to Fili who walked off to give it Thorin. One by one, the rest of the dwarves in Thorin's company came up and introduced themselves. There was Fili, Kili and Thorin, Ori, Nori, Dori, Oin, Gloin, Bifur, Bofur, Bombur, Dwalin and Balin. It turned out that Balin was also a friend of her grandfathers and was extremely pleased that someone from the family was joining the company.

"You are now all free to leave. Members of the company, we leave at first light tomorrow morning" Thorin told the dwarves and they immediately scattered out in all directions to continue their daily business. Eliza climbed off of the stage and headed straight towards her family. Her grandfather beamed at her in pride and even her father gave her a small smile. Sterling, however, looked to be on the verge of tears. He ran towards her and enveloped her in a massive hug.

"I- don'- want- you-to-leave!" He sniffed, looking up at her, blue eyes brimming with tears.

"Hey don't cry, little star." Eliza whispered, using his old childhood nickname. "I'll be fine." She kissed the top of his head and he pulled away, still sniffing. Eliza turned to face her grandfather. He smiled and pulled her into a hug.

"I am so proud of yer, princess." He whispered and Eliza grinned. Her grandfather was proud of her and that was all that mattered right now. Nár held her out at arms length and gave her what would've been a stern look had he not been grinning from ear to ear.

"Tha' trick with the dagger was a stupid move, Elisa." He said seriously.

"I know, Grandpa, he was just being rude and I lost my temper." She apologised, suddenly realising how much trouble she could've got in.

"Well yer lucky it ended so well for yer. But of all the dwarves yer had to pick 'im didn't yer?!" The old dwarf said laughing.

"Who is he then?" Eliza asked.

"Why, he's Thorin's own nephew! He and his brother Fili are the heirs of Erebor! Princes of sorts." He explained. Eliza was in shock. The pair had seemed completely normal to her, not like royalty at all. And as for Kili being Thorin's nephew, well, she supposed she was lucky that Thorin had seen the humour in the situation or who knows what would've happened to her.

She then turned around to face her father who was trying to hide a smile. Part of him was concerned about his daughter going on a dangerous quest but part of him was proud that she had stood up for herself and was going to reclaim the wondrous city of Erebor that he'd heard so much about since he was a small child. He looked down at his only daughter and sighed.

"Your mother's going to be furious." Was all he said.


	2. Chapter 2

Telchar Ironhand was right about his wife's reaction to the news. When the small group had returned home from town, Sterling refusing to leave his sister's side even for a moment for fear of her getting herself into even more trouble, they found Isabella and Skye sat at the kitchen table, both with a book in hand. They looked up as their family members entered the room.

"Well what did Thorin want then?" Isabella asked at once,her inquisitive Took nature kicking in. She had been unable to attend the meeting due to her having no dwarven blood.

"He was askin' fer people to go on a quest." Nár explained briefly, sitting himself down next to his wife.

"A quest for what exactly?" Skye asked, her eyes returning to the book in her hand.

"They want to reclaim Erebor." Sterling told his mother as he hung his cloak up on an ivory peg. Skye merely rolled her eyes and muttered something under her breath that sounded something a lot like 'suicide mission'.

"Erebor? But what about the dragon? He'll guard that treasure for as long as he lives and I'd bet everything I own that he's still alive!" Eliza's grandmother said, voicing her opinion on the matter.

"Well if anyone's capable of killing a dragon, it's Thorin Oakenshield!" Nár said smiling slightly. Eliza nodded slightly in agreement, as did her brother and father although the latter did so making sure his wife could not see. Suddenly Isabella looked panicked.

"Please tell me you didn't volunteer." She pleaded to her husband, knowing how loyal Nár was to his king.

"Nah, I didn't." He replied, leaving out the details of the situation and both women at the table released the breath they'd been holding. "But 'Liza did!" The room fell deathly silent. Sterling backed away towards the staircase, fearing that his mother would explode with anger at any point. Nár however continued to grin as if this were the best news he'd heard in years. Eliza's mother turned her face away from the book and looked at her daughter.

"You did what?" She said calmly which somehow was even more terrifying than her screaming.

"I volunteered to go on the quest to reclaim Erebor." Eliza clarified, holding herself up straighter.

"You're not going." Her mother said simply, turning back to her book. Perhaps it would've been best for Eliza to leave it there, accept her mothers instruction and forget all about the adventure. But Eliza didn't like being told what to do, especially not when it stopped her doing something that she really wanted.

"You can't stop me, I'm practically an adult now anyway." Eliza said matter-of-factly.

"I don't care, Eliza. I'm your mother and I forbid you from going." The woman snapped, refusing to look up at her eldest child.

"You can't control my life forever. I'm going on this quest whether you like it or not!" Eliza refused to shout, refused to lose her temper.

"You are not going on this quest, it's a suicide mission!" Skye shouted back, looking at her daughter at last, her brown eyes filled with pure rage.

"It's too late, I've already signed the contract!" Eliza snapped. The room fell silent yet again. Sterling took the opportunity to dash up the stairs and Telchar muttered something about needing firewood and he walked out of the house. Even Isabella chose to wander into the kitchen. Only Nár remained to watch the mother versus daughter argument. Skye carefully laid the book on the table and took a deep breath.

"What time is the company leaving to go to Erebor?" She said, back to her calm tone of voice.

"Midday tomorrow." Eliza lied at once. Thankfully her grandfather did not say anything because although dwarves could be dim-witted sometimes, they weren't completely stupid.

"Right then. You are not to leave the house tomorrow, I will be up well before midday to ensure that you aren't tempted to leave the house. That is my final word on the matter." Her mother said, picking up her book again and falling into silence. Eliza shot her mother one last scowl and she stormed up the stairs. She was about to run into her room when she heard the sound of crying coming from her little brothers room. She narrowly opened the door and peeked in. Her brother was sat on the floor, knees hunched up under his chin, tears pouring down his face.

"Ster?"

"Go away, 'Liza." He sniffed. Eliza ignored him and walked into the room, closing the door behind her. She sat down on the floor next to him and wrapped her arms around him. At fast he resisted the embrace but after a minute or so he gave in and wrapped his arms around his big sister. They sat like this for a while, Eliza stroking Sterling's curly hair, Sterling quietly crying into his big sisters shirt.

"Can you promise me something, Elle?" Sterling asked, looking up at Eliza, blue eyes still brimming with tears.

"Depends what it is, Ster." She whispered back.

"Can we both promise to stay by each other's sides? To never ever leave?" He asked. Eliza felt a jolt in her heart. As much as she wanted to turn around and say of course she'd never leave, she couldn't lie to her brother. After all, despite her mother's insistence that Eliza would not be going to Erebor, she had a cunning plan. Eventually she came up with an idea.

"Sure, Ster."

"Pinky promise?" He asked, holding up his little finger. Eliza interlocked their little fingers and she discreetly crossed her other fingers so that it didn't count. Yes it was childish, but it was the only way she knew Sterling would accept.

"I promise to never leave my little brothers side and to protect him from harm." Eliza said with a smile at Sterling.

"And I promise to never leave my big sisters side to make sure she doesn't get into any more trouble!" Sterling grinned. They let go of each others fingers.

"I'm going to my room, Ster." Eliza said, getting up from the floor and walking towards the door.

"See you tomorrow, Elle." Sterling said, climbing into his bed. Eliza gave him a weak smile.

"See you, Ster." Eliza replied, closing the door as she left the room. When Eliza reached her bedroom, she climbed into her bed and smiled slightly. Tomorrow she'd wake up extra early because her mother thought the company wouldn't be leaving until midday. That would give her the chance to sneak out the house and by the time her mother woke up, she'd be long gone.

With that thought in mind, she closed her eyes and prepared to sleep. After all, she needed to make sure she'd be we'll rested for an early start the next day.

The next morning Eliza woke up about an hour or so before sunrise. She clambered out of bed and silently paced over to the wardrobe. She threw on some old clothes for the day and packed a spare pair just in case. She also chucked in her sketch book and some quills because she never went anywhere without them. She picked up her quiver full of elven arrows and her bow and put her sword and dagger into their sheaths. Then she quietly paced downstairs, being careful to jump over the last step which had been known to make a loud creaking noise.

When she reached the kitchen she quickly piled a small amount of food into her bag along with a cup that could be used if they found a source of water. She then tiptoed over to the medicinal cupboard and picked up some basic healing herbs because she got the feeling that they'd be extremely useful on the trip.

Eliza went to put her boots on but stopped with her hand on the door. She couldn't leave without writing a note. She swiftly pulled out her sketch book with its dusty red leather cover and ripped out a clean page. She picked up a quill and began to write.

To my family,

I'm so sorry for leaving like this, but I have to. Mother won't let me go to Erebor but I have to. You wouldn't understand but being a member of the company makes me feel like I'm doing something useful with my life. I don't just want to live in one place, having the same routine each day. What I need is adventure, and now it's been offered to me I'd be a fool to turn it down.

I hope you'll understand and forgive me.

Eliza

Unbeknown to Eliza, the note would later be found by her mother who had ran downstairs in horror, realising that her daughters bed was empty. Eliza did not know that her mother would weep and weep and curse herself for being a terrible mother nor did she know that even her grandfather, who had been so proud of Eliza, would bow his head and pray that his granddaughter would return home unharmed, with Erebor reclaimed or not. Eliza would also not know that her brother was nowhere among her family, not until the company had set out at least.

Eliza walked at a brisk pace to the centre of town for the first light of the new day was starting to seep through the darkness and she knew that the company would be leaving anytime soon and that they would not wait for her. In fact, had Eliza spent any longer in the house she would've missed the company completely for when she reached the stage in the middle of town, her companions were already clambering onto their ponies. Eliza picked up the pace and Fili spotted her.

"She's here!" He shouted out, grabbing the attention of the whole company. A few people cheered as she got closer and she couldn't help but smile slightly.

"It's about time you got here! We thought we might have to leave without you!" Kili said to her as she climbed onto a jet black steed that the company had prepared for her.

"Sorry, I couldn't leave without writing a note." Eliza explained in a hurry.

"A note?" Young Ori questioned "Didn't your family get up to see you off?" Eliza shifted uncomfortably.

"No. In fact none of them know I've left. My mother and I had a, erm, disagreement last night. She refused to let me come on this adventure so I had to sneak out of the house. I didn't get a chance to say goodbye." She explained. Almost all of the dwarves shot her sympathetic looks and some of the more compassionate dwarves like Bofur, Kili, Fili and Ori rode over and rested their hands on her shoulder, telling her it would be ok. But not once did Eliza let a tear fall. She was the only woman in this company and showing any sign of weakness would seem to prove the dwarves logic that she was weaker than them and had no place in the company.

"We better leave now. We have to make a detour before we set off for Erebor." Thorin said sharply, leading his group to the edge of the Blue Mountains. They had been traveling for about four hours when they passed a cluster of trees where Eliza remembered camping on her trips from Rivendell to the Blue Mountains. She thought of home and wondered how her family was reacting to her sudden departure. We're they sad? Angry? Disappointed? How was Sterling taking the news?

"Eliza!" Cried a voice in the distance, breaking through her thoughts. She turned around, looking for the source of the noise but she couldn't see anyone. She shook her head and her pony continued to trot on. But then she heard it again, louder this time.

"Eliza, you might want to look at this." Kili said from her left, looking behind him. Eliza followed his gaze and felt her heart plummet. There, riding on the family's grey pony was none other than...

"STERLING!" Eliza shouted. Her little brother galloped towards them and stopped next to his sister, a massive grin on his face.

"Hello, Eliza." He said cheerily

"What are you doing here?" Eliza snarled at him.

"I'm joining your adventure!" He said and the dwarves exchanged looks. Balin then withdrew a contract from his bag and passed it to Sterling along with a quill.

"Oh no you're not!" Eliza snapped, trying to grab the contract from her brothers grasp but he steered the pony away from her reach. He quickly signed his name and passed it back to Balin before Eliza could snatch it away.

"Sterling what do you think you're doing?!" She hissed at him.

"Joining you on your adventure, obviously." He replied as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"But you hate adventures! You always complained when I dragged you out to explore caves and things!" Eliza retorted. The dwarves in the company were silent now, listening to the two siblings bickering.

"We promised that we'd stick by each other's sides." He reminded her.

"I had my fingers crossed, it doesn't count!" Eliza told him.

"I didn't!" He yelled back at her. Eliza froze. She'd made a promise to Sterling to stay by his side but made sure she didn't have to keep it. She hadn't quite realised that he'd made the same promise to stick with her and he _had_ meant it. Suddenly Eliza realised just how cunning her little brother was, he knew she'd try and get out of the promise so he'd twisted it to ensure that there was no way out. For the first time since he had ridden up to the group, Eliza smiled at Sterling.

"Well I suppose I better keep my end of the deal then." She said and Sterling grinned back at her.

"Thank you." He whispered, quiet enough so the other dwarves couldn't hear him although Fili and Kili, who'd been listening in, had heard it.

"I suppose we'd better start with fighting considering the last time you tried to shoot an arrow, you shot it into my foot." Eliza muttered and Kili snorted.

"And I'll teach you the basics of sword fighting." Fili said with a grin.

"And I'll help with the archery because I don't think your sisters quite as good as me." Kili bragged.

"Watch it, dwarf." Eliza said, rolling her eyes at him and Sterling shot the beardless dwarf a cheeky grin.

"Better be careful, Kili. Last time you insulted my sister you went tumbling off a stage. Perhaps this time she'll send you tumbling off a cliff." Eliza laughed and sent a smile in her younger brothers direction. Kili huffed and galloped off to ride alongside his Uncle. This just made the siblings laugh more at his childish behaviour and even Fili chuckled softly.

"Thorin, where exactly is this detour taking us?" Balin asked from just in front of Eliza.

"To a place called the Shire. Gandalf says he's found us a burglar there." Thorin replied, without turning around

"In the shire?" Sterling asked disbelievingly.

"Yeah the only people you'll find in the Shire are hobbits and believe me, none of them will be interested in adventures!" Eliza said, scoffing at the very idea of a hobbit willingly coming on an adventure.

"Well that's what Gandalf has said, are you saying that the wizard, Gandalf the Grey, is wrong?" Thorin snapped.

"No, I guess not. It was just unexpected, that's all." Eliza mumbled. Thorin huffed at her and turned his back on the girl. She hunched her shoulders. Great, not even a whole day had gone by and she'd already got on Thorin's bad side. This was going to be an interesting journey.


	3. Chapter 3

It took a couple of weeks for the small company to reach the Shire and along the way they'd often encountered trouble. Most of these problems were unfortunately caused by young Sterling and Thorin had threatened on several occasions to tie him to a tree and leave him there. As much as Eliza didn't like the idea of her brother on a dangerous mission, she didn't think the way to resolve this involved abandoning him. So she made it her mission to teach him at least basic combat skills.

Fili and Kili would sometimes help her teach her brother how to handle bows, daggers and swords and even Bofur and Ori helped out a bit although Eliza didn't suppose Sterling would last long in a fight if he was using a slingshot like the one Ori wielded.

The problem with teaching Sterling how to use dangerous weapons was that he had a nasty habit of unintentionally injuring those helping him out. By the end of the first week he had shot an arrow in Eliza's foot (again), sliced one of Fili's fingers and given Bofur a nasty bruise on his left cheek.

Despite this, Eliza was determined to teach her brother even the most basic fighting techniques so he had even a slim chance of surviving combat and she was proud to say that by the 9th day of their journey he had managed to hold a 10 minute sword fight with Fili. Eliza had her doubts on whether or not Fili had really been trying but Sterling's look of complete joy was enough for her to keep her mouth firmly shut.

However, the real test came for Sterling one evening when the company got into real trouble.

Most of the company were sat in the clearing, singing joyfully, the danger of their quest still not completely sinking in, but not Eliza and Sterling. They were out in the woods surrounding their little campsite, collecting firewood but also mucking around as siblings do. Eventually Eliza decided that their friends would probably be getting cold by now and what Eliza really didn't want was for Thorin to get angry at her and Sterling for what was probably the millionth time. They began to make their way towards camp when Eliza suddenly froze.

"What is-" Sterling begun but Eliza cut him off by quickly placing her hand over his mouth.

"Do you hear that?" She whispered, straining her ears. In the distance she could hear something that sounded worryingly like Black Speech, the language commonly used by Orcs. Sterling listened carefully and his eyes widened as he realised what he was hearing. Eliza lowered her hand slowly.

"We need to climb into the trees and make our way over there as quietly as possible." She said and Sterling nodded, unable to formulate words in the potentially life-threatening situation they were in.

Luckily for the pair, they'd spent a lot of their childhood in trees, Eliza dragging her little brother along and jumping out silently in front of unsuspecting elves. This meant they were able to scramble up a tree, barely rustling the leaves. They edged out onto a fairly wide branch and leaped to the next oak. They continued in this fashion until they were in the final trees that circled where their company had set up camp. A horrific scene met their eyes.

It seemed that Thorin and his company had not expected an attack and had been overpowered by the Orcs, their weapons laying useless in a pile to the side and Eliza immediatley felt grateful that she'd thought to bring her weapons with her. The dwarves themselves were all tied together looking murderously at the Orcs who were laughing at them.

"Ster, you need to jump into another tree." Eliza instructed.

"Why?" He asked, eyes still transfixed on the monstrous Orcs who were surrounding the dwarves.

"Because when I shoot arrows at them, they're going to work out where they're coming from and shoot back." Eliza told him, silently pulling her wooden bow from her shoulder. Sterling looked horrified at his sisters plan but as she pulled an arrow from her quiver, he swiftly leapt into a neighbouring tree, concealing himself behind the leaves.

The first arrow hit the neck of the Orc who was currently leaned over Ori and it fell to its knees. The Orcs looked at each other in shock and then another arrow hit one of the creatures in the eye. Another Orc went down, and another. Seven had been killed by the time the Orcs realised they were under attack and the dwarves were looking around, wondering who it was killing the Orcs and whether they were friend or foe.

The Orcs were furious at this attack and picked up their own bows and arrows and began shooting at the tree which Eliza had shot from but by the time they'd fired their arrows Eliza was already in the next tree and had managed to take down yet another Orc. A few trees later and the young girl was standing next to her brother.

"Sterling, I'm going to lead the Orcs away. It's down to you to release the dwarves." She told him

"B-but I can't do that! I'm useless!" He whispered back at his older sister.

"You're not useless, Ster. I know you can do this." She said and with that she jumped to the next tree, sending more arrows down towards the angry Orcs who followed her deep into the woods, hopelessly shooting their own arrows into trees that she'd already left.

Back at camp, Sterling slid down the tree in complete silence and slowly crept towards the dwarves. Unfortunately not all the Orcs had followed Eliza and there were three left behind. Sterling took a deep breath in, drew the sword that Fili had kindly given to him and tried to remember everything the dwarves and his sister had taught him as he charged towards the Orcs.

The first went down easily, it had not been expecting an attack and the sword embedded itself in the creatures back. The next one was more prepared and Sterling desperately defended his own body as he attempted to slip past the Orc's seemingly impenetrable defence. Eventually though, through a stroke of luck, the Orc slipped slightly on a patch of wet grass and let his guard down for barely a second. Sterling seized the oppurtunity and buried his weapon deep into its neck.

The final Orc seemed even better at fighting than the one before him, blocking every one of Sterlings attacks with ease and throwing in some violent attacks of his own which Sterling barely avoided. The boy put up a good fight but in the end there would only be one winner and soon enough Sterling found himself laying on the ground, the Orcs sword inches from his neck, the creature holding it grinning in triumph.

"Nice try, little boy." The Orc spat, its rotting teeth visible as it opened its mouth in a malicious grin.

The dwarves had watched the whole thing powerlessly. They had all watched in shock as young Sterling,without any doubt the worst fighter out of the whole company, had surged out of the woods, sword held high and effortlessly taken down an Orc. They'd watched in awe as the unlikely hero had taken down the second Orc despite the odds being against him. But now they stared in horror as the final Orc held its sword against his throat, revelling in the boy's final struggles.

"Leave him alone!" Ori screamed at the Orc. The creature looked up at young, helpless Ori and laughed coldly.

"And what are you going to do about it, dwarf?" It hissed.

"I'll- I'll kill you!" Ori said, sounding a lot braver than he felt. This time the Orc laughed even louder, the menacing sound echoing around the clearing.

"I don't think so, dwarf. In fact, when I've finished with this one I think I'll come over there and kill you." The creature said and Nori and Dori tried to shield their little brother with their own bodies, glaring at the Orc. Suddenly an arrow flew from the edge of the woods and embedded itself in the vile creatures neck.

"You won't be doing any killing tonight. Or any other night for that matter!" A voice said and the Orc let out one final choked breath before it fell forwards and moved no more. Eliza emerged from the woods, mud on her clothes and blood staining her skin and pulled her arrow from the dead creatures body, placing it back into her quiver. Then she walked over to the dwarves and untied them all. Sterling laid on the ground, looking at the dead bodies of the Orcs they had killed.

"I killed them." He choked out at last. "I actually killed them." The dwarves smiled at the boy, expecting him to react like any dwarf child making his first kill, with joy and absolute pride. But although Sterling was part dwarf, he was also part hobbit and the hobbit was far more dominant in the younger Ironhand sibling. So instead of smiling, he curled up in a ball and began to sob.

The dwarves had no idea how to react to this and they exchanges puzzled looks. Fili and Kili looked particuarly confused as not that long ago, when they had killed an Orc for the first time, they had jumped up in triumph, proud of having killed an evil creature. Sterlings reaction was completely alien to them.

Eliza sat down next to her brother and wrapped her arms around him, holding him as he wept. Eliza understood. She had first killed a Warg when she was younger and she remembered looking at the beast in guilt. She had wondered whether it had a family that it would never return to, if it had dreams. Of course it was stupid, Wargs were known for being heartless creatures with no sense of ambition or love and Eliza knew that better than anybody but she couldn't help the guilt that plagued her. She couldnt help but wonder if that one had been different. She hadn't cried like her brother but Eliza could not remember when she had last cried, she certainly hadn't for many years.

So she sat there, just holding her little brother as he cried for the lives he had took, telling him that it was ok.

Help surprisingly came from young Ori who, although he didn't understand why Sterling felt bad for killing bloodthirsty creatures like Orcs, had realised that the idea of taking a life was shocking for someone as innocent as Sterling.

"You had to do it, they would've killed you if you hadn't." Ori said, crouching down to look the youngest member of the company in the eye. "Don't feel guilty about it, I know you feel bad for killing someone but Orcs aren't people. All they do is kill. You haven't done anything wrong by killing vile creatures like them."

Sterling looked up at Ori, sniffing loudly and he smiled faintly.

"You're right. It was just... it was something I'm not used to. But I'll get used to it." He said determindly, leaving his sisters grip. Eliza smiled at him but it didn't quite reach her eyes. She didn't want her brother to have to get used to killing, she never wanted him to have to take lives. But he would have to in order to survive. Eliza reminded herself of this but she couldn't help thinking that with every life her brother took, the further away he got from the young, innocent boy she once knew.

Thorin walked over to Eliza and Sterling with a stern expression on his face. Eliza prepared herself to be shouted at for being reckless or for Sterling to be called weak but these cruel words never came. Instead, Thorin smiled.

"Thank you, both of you. You have saved the lives of everyone here, showing bravery, skill and intelligence. I owe you both my life." Eliza didn't know what to say as Thorin inclined his head to the siblings. She continued to open and close her mouth, unable to force any words out. Sterling luckily spoke up for the both of them.

"You don't owe us anything. It is enough to be in your company." Sterling said, smiling up at the man he had looked up to throughout his childhood. Eliza looked at her brother wide-eyed, shocked at the extremely mature response her little brother had formulated when she had been unable to even force a single word out. Her little brother whom she'd sheltered for years was growing up far too quickly for her liking.

"It is an absolute pleasure to have the two of you in my company." Thorin said and at this Eliza couldn't help the grin that spread across her face. Not only were they a part of Thorin Oakenshield's company, but now they were accepted and trusted by him.

Over the next few days Eliza went out of her way to spend time with every member of the company. Whereas before she wouldn't dare try to speak to the likes of Dwalin, who had the strong belief that Eliza had no place among them, now she chose to spoke to them and she found that after the Orc incident, they were all happy to speak with her.

She learnt that Nori was a notorious criminal but with a soft spot for younger dwarves, especially his little brother Ori; that Dwalin, although he seemed threatening was actually one of the nicest people, as long as you stayed on his good side; that Bifur who was only able to communicate in Khuzdul, was a surprisingly wise dwarf and due to the fact Eliza had learnt Khuzdul, she regularly had conversations with the often overlooked dwarf. But perhaps Eliza's favourite dwarf in the company was young Ori. After he stood up for her brother and comforted him after his first kill, Eliza made an effort to talk to the shy dwarf. He was extremely sweet and shared her two loves of drawing and books so they would sometimes sit for hours on end talking about books or showing each other drawings they had done.

Eliza also talked to Fili and Kili a lot, as did Sterling. The four of them got along extremely well and while Fili and Kili talked about their adventures in the Blue Mountains, Eliza and Sterling told of places like their grandfather Radagast's house in Mirkwood and the beautiful halls of Rivendell. Fili and Kili would listen with rapt attention to tales of the mad old wizard in the woods who talked to no-one but his own family and likewise Eliza and Sterling would be captivated by stories of the Blue Mountains and the area around it.

It was safe to say that the quartet were happy together and had become close friends over the couple of weeks they'd been travelling together and that was exactly how they wanted it to be. Except things after their visit to Bag End in the Shire would seriously alter that friendship and threaten to tear apart the very foundations it stood on.


	4. Chapter 4

Eliza and Sterling had only visited the Shire a couple of times but it had not changed much since their last visit. Fresh, green fields spread for miles with all manner of crops growing in them. Small hobbit holes dotted the land with their brightly coloured doors standing out amongst the green.

The hobbits in the Shire were kind enough people but they were suspicious of outsiders and did not trust the likes of dwarves and elves.

During the Ironhands few visits to the home of Isabella Took, they had been treated with suspicion and a general air of dislike, particularly from the more 'respectable' hobbits like their distant relatives, the Baggins'. However other families, particuarly the Gamgees, Brandybucks and even part of the Took family had treated them warmly, inviting them round for dinner and even showing young Eliza and Sterling around the Shire and the neighbouring woodlands.

All in all, Eliza was fond of the Shire and the small hobbits that lived there but she did find their way of life a bit too slow and boring for her liking.

The company had reached the Shire on the verge of the evening and the sky was just beginning to darken. The little company got wondering looks from young hobbits and challenging glares from some older hobbits. The dwarves ignored the hobbits around them and continued on their way to a place Eliza knew to be Bag End.

"I think we had better split up to try and find Mr Baggins' house." Thorin instructed and Eliza froze.

"I'm sorry, did you just say Baggins?" She asked and the leader of the company turned and looked at her questioningly.

"Yes."

"A Baggins is not going to want anything to do with an adventure, I can tell you that now." She said, shaking her head at the very idea of one of her distant relatives willingly going on an adventure. Thorin turned back round and addressed the company again.

"We should go in twos or threes. I shall go alone." He said and he began his search for the elusive hobbit hole.

"I'll go with Fili and Kili!" Sterling practically shouted before anyone else could open their mouths to speak. Eliza looked at her brother in mock horror.

"Well I was going to say you could come with me, Ster. But no!" Eliza said, pretending to be angry at her little brother. Sterling knew it was a joke, she did it all the time to wind up people at Rivendell but the dwarves didn't know that and Eliza was putting on a very good show. They looked at her in a mixture of shock and worry.

"Um, you could come too, Eliza. It doesn't really matte-" Kili began uncertainly, looking slightly scared of the 'angry' girl.

"Its FINE!" Eliza snapped "I'll just go with Ori!" And she grabbed said dwarves arm and walked off in the opposite direction to Thorin, leaving the rest of the company staring after them, mouths agape.

When they had got a little way up the path, Eliza grinned and poor Ori, who had believed the whole act, looked at her nervously.

"A-are you alright?" He asked uncertainly, worried that she would bit his head off like she had done to unsuspecting Kili.

"Yeah I'm fine." Eliza positively beamed but noticing that Ori still looked uncertain she continued "I wasn't really angry. I was just pretending. It's something I do to wind up the elves at Rivendell, I just thought I'd try it on you guys. It was worth it, you should've seen your faces!"

"Oh! Ok then." Ori said, smiling weakly. "It just seemed real, that's all."

The pair continued walking around Bag End, desperately looking for the home of Mr Baggins. The had no idea what the house looked like, all they'd been told was that they'd know it when they saw it. They had passed Dori and Nori at one point and they hadn't had any luck finding the place either. Darkness fell on the Shire and the cold night air made Eliza shiver. She had all but given up on finding the damn house and was prepared to go and find an inn to stay in when suddenly Ori pointed out a hobbit hole with a dark green door engraved with a symbol that Eliza knew to be dwarvish.

"This must be the place!" Ori said excitedly, throwing open the gate and dashing up the makeshift steps leading to the door. Eliza followed, making sure to close the gate out of politeness. Ori knocked on the door and she hurried to stand next to him as the door was thrown open by a rather annoyed hobbit.

"Ori, at your service!" Ori said, bowing low and giving the accepted dwarf greeting.

"And Eliza, at your service." Eliza said, also bowing to the hobbit at the door.

"Yes, yes your friends are already here." He said hurriedly, stepping aside so they could see Dwalin, Balin, Fili, Kili and Sterling all sat at the table, devouring poor Mr Baggins' food.

"Oh they're not all here yet." Ori said, walking over and sitting himself down next to Dwalin.

"There-there's more of you?" Mr Baggins said in horror and Eliza looked at him in surprise.

"Do you know why we're here Mr Baggins?" Eliza asked politely.

"No!" Squeaked the hobbit and Eliza silently cursed Gandalf for not thinking to tell the poor hobbit why 15 strangers were to invade his house.

"I'm really sorry about this then." She said sincerely, resting her hand on the hobbit's shoulder.

"At least someone here has some manners." Mr Baggins said with a a slight smile. Eliza returned his smile and walked over to where her brother was sat, eating rather delicately in comparison with the dwarves around him. Kili and Fili looked at her like she was a bomb that could go off any second.

"Have you calmed down now?" Kili asked her.

"What? Oh, I was never angry in the first place. I was acting." She told him as she beamed at him.

"Why you-" But he was cut off by the door opening once more and the remainder of the dwarves, except Thorin, literally tumbled in. Soon, almost the whole company was sat at the table, Eliza wedged between Sterling and Bifur with barely enough room to eat, laughing and joking around as only dwarves can do. Mr Baggins stood at the end of the table, his arms crossed despite Eliza and Bofur's friendly attempts to get him to join the table.

"Bombur, catch!" Nori shouted as he threw some food across the table to Bombur who caught it all neatly in his mouth. The dwarves roared with laughter and Sterling hiccuped a laugh, the ale he was drinking beginning to go to his head. There was another knock on the door and soon enough Gandalf the Grey sat next to them, hunched up at the table, blowing colourful smoke rings into the air and laughing merrily at the dwarves.

When it came to clearing the table or collecting more food, the dwarves had a very unique approach. Each of them had a specific position and they threw all manner of food and tableware at each other, not once dropping any. However, this didn't do much to calm down Mr Baggins who watched in horror as his precious dinnerware went flying through the air into Fili's hands who then chucked it into the kitchen. He ran between the dwarves, desperately trying to recover everything and shouting at anyone who threatened to damage his belongings.

"Now is that really necessary?"

"Put that DOWN!"

"That was my mothers, be CAREFUL with it!"

The dwarves as well as Sterling found the whole matter rather hilarious and even Eliza, although feeling sorry for the hobbit, couldn't help giggling at their antics. Soon enough the dwarves begun a song.

"Chip the glasses and crack the plates!

Blunt the knives and bend the forks!

That's what Bilbo Baggins hates-

Smash the bottles and burn the corks!"

Poor Bilbo looked absolutely horrified at the song, even though it was a joke and despite their lack of manners, the dwarves wouldn't even think of destroying the hobbits possessions. The song was so catchy that even Eliza joined in with the last verse although perhaps she only joined in because the hobbit's ale was stopping her from thinking straight. She did feel a little bit tipsy and the room was beginning to spin...

"Dump the crocks in a bowling bowl;

Pound them up with a thumping pole;

And when you've finished, if any are whole,

Send them down the hall to roll!

That's what Bilbo Baggins hates!

So carefully! Carefully with the plates!"

The song finished with a roar of laughter from Bilbo's visitors. There was a knock on the door and it suddenly fell silent, plates no longer being chucked into the air. Everyone suddenly realised that Thorin must have arrived.

"He is here." Gandalf whispered and Bilbo walked to the door, a little nervous about who or what was able to make the dwarves fall silent so suddenly. The door was opened and there stood Thorin Oakenshield.

"Sorry I'm late. I got lost, twice." Thorin said, striding into the house and Eliza had to cover her mouth behind her ale to hide the giggle that threatened to escape. The idea of their leader, the majestic Thorin Oakenshield, getting lost in the Shire was a strange image. She was certain that he would not have asked for directions and instead would've stomped around angrily, generating furious looks from the Shire folk.

"It's good to see you Thorin." Balin said, breaking the silence that had fallen over the dwarves and soon everyone was talking again, although slightly quieter than they had been before. Thorin looked around and his eyes fell on Bilbo Baggins.

"So," he said, with a smirk playing on his lips "This is the burglar. Looks more of a grocer than a burglar." The rest of the company let out a roar of laughter and it seemed everyone but Eliza and Bilbo had found the joke absolutely hilarious. Even Gandalf had let out a chortle but Eliza noticed that when Thorin's back was turned, the smile fell from Gandalf's face and he looked apologetically at Bilbo who looked positively furious.

Indeed, Mr Baggins was furious. This stranger had waltzed into his house without so much as a 'good evening' or a 'nice to meet you'. At least the others who had invaded his house at least had the decency to introduce themselves but this, this brute, clearly thought himself better than everyone else and if there was one thing that angered Bilbo Baggins more than anything else, it was big-headed people. And then, the dwarf had the cheek to insult him when he had so graciously allowed him into his home! Bilbo hated confrontation but in this particular case, he refused to let Thorin get away with it. He straightened his back and strode over to where the newest addition had taken a seat and he stood there bristling like an angry cat.

Eliza had noticed Bilbo's angry expression and she silently prayed that the hobbit wouldn't be stupid enough to shout at Thorin. However, when he cleared his throat and tapped the dwarf on his heavily armed shoulder, she realised that the hobbit was intent on letting Thorin know exactly what he thought of his rude, but typical of the dwarven prince, entrance.

"Excuse me!" Bilbo said loudly over the dwarves chatter. Everyone fell silent and turned their attention to the fuming hobbit.

"I would like to know exactly why you have all, very rudely may I add, entered my house and completely destroyed my food supplies! I would especially like to know why you," he pointed at Thorin now "believe yourself to be so... so special that you can disrespect me!" The dwarves were looking wide eyed at the hobbit and Thorin raised his eyebrows.

"And how exactly have I disrespected you, halfling?" He thundered and Bilbo looked outraged.

"How- how have you disrespected me?! Well for starters you had the complete cheek to storm into my house without so much as a hello directed towards me. Then you completely ignore me, even though it is my house you and your friends have so rudely invaded! Why, the only thing you have said to me at all since your entrance was a one sentence insult! Even now, you don't even have the decency to call me by my name so I will not call you by yours, you selfish... BRUTE!" The other dwarves gaped at Bilbo and even the hobbit himself was shocked at his Tookish outburst.

"Do you know who I am?" Thorin snarled

"What?" Bilbo looked at the dwarven king with panic etched on his features. He hadn't meant to call him a brute to his face. Now he was in for it.

"I said, do. You. Know. Who. I. Am." The dwarf thundered, separating each individual word and his company shrunk away from the authority in his tone.

"No." Squeaked Bilbo.

"My name is Thorin Oakenshield, son of Thrain, son of Thrór. I am the heir to the throne of Erebor. I am the leader of my people. I am anything but selfish. I am royalty and I will call you what I please, halfling." Thorin told Bilbo before turning his back on the shaking hobbit. Despite his anger at having been called a selfish brute, Thorin's faith in Gandalf had been partly restored. Even though then hobbits courage had disappeared now, it had definitely been there. Yes, there was certainly more to the halfling than met the eye. Perhaps he wouldn't be such a useless addition to the company.

"You all know what we're here to discuss. Years ago, the kingdom of Erebor was stolen from us by that great worm, Smaug." Thorin repeated the story of the loss of Erebor, and spoke of the mission to gain it back. Obviously the company already knew this, Thorin was merely repeating it for the benefit of Bilbo who listened with rapt attention, like a child listening to a fairy tale.

"This has been in my possession for some time." Gandalf finally spoke after Thorin had finished his tale and everyone at the table turned to look as the wizard withdrew a key from his robes. "A key to Erebor, but not the main key."

"If there's a key, there must be a door... THERE'S ANOTHER WAY IN!" Kili shouted in realisation and whilst Fili turned to look at him in pride, the rest of the company rolled their eyes at Kili's obvious statement.

"Indeed there is. If you can find the other entrance, perhaps you have a chance of defeating the dragon." Gandalf told them and for the first time that evening, a smile found its way onto Thorin Oakenshield's face. It didn't stay there long though, as Bilbo decided to speak up.

"Hang on, you're planning to kill a dragon?" He said in pure disbelief

"Yes, halfling. What is wrong with that?" Thorin asked in annoyance, as though Bilbo were some irritating fly that kept buzzing around his head.

"Well no offence but that's not really going to happen is it? I mean, come on, there's only 16 of you and you don't seem to be the best fighters in the world." Bilbo said, looking round his table at the unlikely group of people.

At first the company were angered by Bilbo's statement but as they looked around, the harsh reality of his words sunk in. After all, they weren't the best fighters, not by any stretch of the imagination, nor where there many of them. They looked around at Oin, who was so deaf he could barely hear people talking let alone hear an enemy sneaking up on him. Their gaze fell on Ori who preferred to write or draw rather than fight and whose weapon of choice was a handcrafted slingshot. They stared at Sterling who they had all seen break down when he had killed an Orc. Bilbo was right, what kind of chance did they have really?

Not to be put down by the hobbits words, Fili piped up.

"We might not be the best fighters but we're determined!" He said.

"Yeah, and we stick together. Think of what we've already got through." Eliza added, smiling at the men around her.

"And we have the white wizard, that's got to count for something!" Kili chipped in.

"He's right! Gandalf will have killed tonnes of dragons in his time!" Ori shouted, standing up from between Dwalin and Dori. Gandalf choked on his pipe at this comment. The smile had returned to Thorin's face and he addressed his loyal companions.

"No, we aren't the best. But I'd rather have every dwarf here rather than the best armies in all of middle earth because you all came to help when I asked. I could not ask for better companions." He praised them and everyone toasted to that (all except Sterling who Eliza had decided had drunk enough ale for one night).

"So, Mr Baggins, are you going to join us?" Eliza asked the hobbit who turned to face her startled.

"I'm sorry, what?"

"Are you joining us on our quest to regain Erebor. That's why we're here, to ask you to be our burglar on the journey." She clarified for Bilbo who stared back in a mix of shock and horror.

"Me. Go on an adventure?"

"Yes, Mr Baggins. An adventure!" Kili grinned at the hobbit.

"We've got the contract here for you to sign." Balin told him, taking the contract out of his pocket and passing it to the hobbit who snatched it and began to read, his nose practically touching the parchment. He mumbled as he read.

"The journey includes food, transport etc... Funeral arrangements? Death by lacerations, starvation... INCINERATION?!" Bilbo looked up at them in complete shock and many of the dwarves were beginning to doubt whether or not Bilbo Baggins was a real burglar.

"Aye laddy. He'll burn the skin off yer in a blink o' the eye." Bofur told him

"No, no I can't do this." Bilbo muttered

"It's easy lad. Just think furnace with wings. Searing pain and then poof! Yer nothin' more than a pile o' ash." Bofur added, thinking he was being helpful which, obviously, he wasn't.

"Are you ok, Mr Baggins?" Eliza asked, noticing that the hobbit looked quite pale.

"I'm okay, I'm okay." He froze and lifted his head "Nope." Was the last thing he said before his legs gave way and he collapsed to the floor.

"Is he alright?" Ori asked, concerned for the well being of their host who was lying on the floor, completely still.

"He'll be fine, Mr Ori. We just need to sit him in a chair." Gandalf instructed and he watched in slight amusement as Nori and Oin carried the hobbit onto a patchwork chair. When Bilbo woke up, the wizard was going to have a lot of convincing to do...

The company left Mr Baggins house a few hours later, their bellies full but still with the same number of members. When Bilbo had finally woken up Gandalf had spoken to him about his brave Took ancestors and had argued with the middle aged hobbit that he couldn't spend his whole life in Bag End doing nothing useful with his life. However, despite all Gandalf's attempts to convince Bilbo to join the company, the hobbit was having none of it and his answer was still a firm no.

Thorin and the majority of his company were happy to accept this as his final answer but Gandalf had convinced them to stay in the Green Dragon inn overnight and to depart in the morning. He had agreed that if Bilbo was not there by that time then he was a lost cause and they would set off on their journey without him.

There were mixed opinions over whether or not the hobbit would join them or not and so that night, in the inn the group made bets on whether or not he would join them or not. In the end those who said he would join were Sterling, Eliza, Gandalf, Kili, Ori and, to many people's surprise, Nori. Everyone else bet on him not joining them and although Thorin refused to participate in the bet, it was clear he thought the hobbit would never show.

In the early hours of the morning the company departed into their separate rooms, all wondering what the morning light would bring and more specifically whether it would bring them their hobbit burglar...


End file.
